A fitness instructor has rolled up her mat after 40 years of helping get others into shape – but the workouts are far from over.
After four decades at Spalding’s Castle Sports Complex, Cheryl Ingleby – known to many as Chez – has decided the time is right to focus on her passions of family and travel.
Chez Ingleby has retired after 40 years as a fitness instructor. Photo supplied
But that doesn’t mean the grandmother of four will be quitting the gym, but instead joining in classes from the back of the room rather than the front.
“It was so emotional, I never expected it at all,” said Chez, joking that the gym’s reception area looked ‘more like a florist’ as her final day saw her inundated with flowers and cards from well wishers.
“I didn’t realise until I left how much I had touched some people. But this has given me a massive family of friends.
Chez in the Castle Gym in 2020. Photo: Iliffe Media
“Because of your role, people trust you and believe in you and they become close friends. It’s just been a massive great big family for me.”
That love affair with the Castle – where Chez was taking 14 classes per week up until her final day – began in 1986.
After having her first three children – Dan, Sadie and Harry Sharman – in the space of three years and one month, she decided to sign up to ‘get back into shape’.
Chez will spend her retirement with family, travelling and also working out. Photo supplied
But within two months the gym’s instructor moved on and Chez was one of two well-known members asked to fill the gap.
She jumped at the chance, and remained in situ for the next 40 years – four on a freelance basis and the final 36 on the staff – where she worked under 21 managers, but not quite staying long enough to see the sport’s centre’s ongoing £28 million revamp finalised.
“There’s no point earning your money if you’re not going to spend it,” said Chez, who was born in Canada before moving to Fens in 1963, where she has remained ever since.
carrying out a Children in Need charity class. Photo supplied
“I just decided it was time to spend more time with my family and travelling.
“But I’ll never stop doing fitness, it’s a huge part of my life, although I used to be in the gym every morning from 6.30am and today I started at 7.30am.”
A keen sports fanatic throughout her school life, where she excelled in sprinting, Chez’s first taste of employment was work experience at the Lincolnshire Free Press, where a photograph of her appeared on the front page under the headline ‘Cheeky Cheryl Gives Us A Hand’.
The Castle Sports Complex is undergoing a revamp. Photo supplied
But deciding a life in newspapers involved ‘too much sitting down for me’, her employment took a different turn.
Working as a fitness instructor and personal trainer, however, is not the only string to Chez’s bow.
Securing a Level 4 GP referrals qualification – the highest possible – she also worked four hours a week helping people suffering with a number of conditions including cancer, diabetes, obesity, back problems and cardiac issues regain their health, strength and confidence.
Chez and her pals on this year’s ski trip to Italy. Photo supplied
“That was very rewarding,” said Chez looking back at the ten years she carried out this work.
But never one to waste her spare time, Chez also ran line dance sessions with the help of husband Phil as well as organising ski holidays for friends and gym clients for the past 25 years.
Her first adventure involved a party of 65 travelling to Bulgaria, while earlier this year a group of 34 enjoyed the slopes at Sestriere in Italy.
Chez’s son Harry (right) is Spalding’s longest-standing captain. Photo supplied.
From Step to pilates and many more, Chez has seen so many different exercises become the class of the moment, but as long as it’s getting people active, she always sees them as a good thing.
“The fact is, moving works, whatever takes your fancy. A lot of ladies like to move to catchy music and dancing. Zumba and the likes of those. If that works for you then great,” she said.
“If it gets people in a class then that’s a good thing.
Chez’s youngest son Willis Ingleby is the current Spalding Rugby Club skipper. Photo supplied
“There have been so many fads; slides, kangaroos. But some of the things have kept going, such as Step, pilates and yoga.
“Pilates has been a big thing for me over the last three years, it’s really grown in popularity and I’ve just got so much out of it.
“I could see people come in and be bent over and slow at walking. Two or three weeks of pilates and they’d be upright and have a spring in their step.”
Chez was also keen to emphasise the importance of weight training for heart health as well as toning, plus the importance of keeping your body guessing.
“After six weeks, doing the same things over and over again doesn’t get the same results,” she said.
“Unless you make changes – such as working harder in the class, adding extra weights – you have to change to make continuous improvements.
“You can change intensity, frequency or even the type of exercise.”
And although Chez spent her working life at the Castle, she also feels switching gyms can also be hugely beneficial to some people
“We do need variety. If you go to a gym and for some reason it’s not what you expect – maybe because the music isn’t as loud as you like or they don’t have certain machines – you can go to the next one,” she said.
“When I first started there was two gyms in town, Everybody’s Gym and us. People tell me there are too many gyms in town and I say ‘no’ because of the usage.
“When I started it was something stupid like just 8% of the population would ever go into a gym. That’s increased now into a figure in the early 20s.
“You have to be happy at the gym. It’s no good being there with a serious face, you have to have fun.
“Over the years in my classes I learned who I can have a joke with in the class. When you find the right class you can make friends and spur each other on.
“The gym business is more important now than it it ever was. We know a sedentary lifestyle soon becomes bad habits and the rot sets in.”
For Chez, seeing many stroke and heart attack survivors she has worked with still living healthy lives more than 10 years on has given her great job satisfaction.
But her favourite success story was helping a woman who was in tears on the phone due to severe back pain which left her housebound and unable to move.
Beginning with small 10-minute exercises on a fitness ball to help her strengthen her core, she soon managed to build up her strength and regain a normal life.
“It probably took me four months for her to be walking at normal speed. But now she can lift weight in the gym and do anything,” she added.
That love of exercise runs through Chez’s family.
Her husband Phil referees rugby, a sport which three of her children have excelled in.
After playing professionally for South Leicestershire, Harry was Spalding Rugby Club’s longest-serving captain, skippering the team for six years.
Her youngest son Willis Ingleby currently wear the Elephants’ armband and is a keen HYROX (intensive fitness racing) competitor, while Sadie represented Eastern Counties and Deeping Devils.
Dan, meanwhile, is a keen badminton player.
They are, of course, all keen skiers.
But while Chez and her family continue to be active, she has one simple message for those who could be doing more to secure a healthier lifestyle.
“We need to invest in our bodies for later life,” she pointed out.
“We think we’re invincible don’t we?
“People say they don’t have time. First of all, if you start exercising then the work you do could become easier. If it’s a manual job, for example, you’d be fitter to do it.
“The second thing is, you’re a long while in your grave. So let’s push that time further away by looking after the body as early in life as you can. Make it a permanent habit, like brushing your teeth in the morning.
“You don’t have to do it every day of the week, three times a week would be fantastic. And if you stick with it you will see the benefits.”